"The first time I was ever on the field with Wayne Graham
was when I was a volunteer assistant and you know Wayne is a legend and
everything he has done for college baseball and you know he means business,"
Gautreau said. "I was coaching first base. I was in the first base coaches box
and he was letting some of his guys have it in the dugout and I was thinking
I've heard stories about him. He's brutally honest. I had heard stories about
it and I was getting to experience it first hand. But he's done amazing things
for college baseball. He's had an amazing college coaching career."

But Gautreau said Graham is a master at gleaning the most of
out the Owls, whom he has coached since 1992. Rice won the College World Series
in 2003 and Graham has sent Rice to seven CWS tournaments and won 16 conference
titles.

"For as much as he rides his guys, that is probably only
what we see on game days," Gautreau said. "As much as he rides them he also
gives them as many pats on the back. It's obviously important to get the most
out of your guys and he commands respect and he demands excellence and he is
going to let you know if it's not going the way he wants it to but at the same
time, if you do something good, he's going to let you know as well."

The Green Wave (14-17, 6-8 in Conference USA) is hoping to
score a rare series victory against the Owls. Tulane is 8-27 overall against
the Owls.

"They definitely have a long-standing tradition," Tulane
infielder Garrett Deschamp said. "You always hear about Rice going to the
college world series and winning it and their head coach Wayne Graham is a big
time icon for college baseball. We're just going into tomorrow's game for a
win."

It's a poor match-up on paper for the Olive and Blue. Tulane
is batting .225. Rice's team ERA is 2.37.

The Green Wave is on a two-game slide after losing to
Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday night in Hammond, 5-1. The offense has been
sluggish. Shortstop Stephen Alemais, who is hitting .212, said he has hit the
batting cages and worked closely with Gautreau, who is the hitting coach, to
try to bat better.

"Enough is not enough," Alemais said. "We talked yesterday
about looking at yourself in the mirror as a team and even individuals. As I
person, I did that and I felt like I wasn't doing enough. So it's just a
different mentality. I'm trying to do anything to get the team going."

On Monday, Gautreau took the reins from Rick Jones for the
rest of the spring. Jones had to step away with a high blood pressure-related
health condition.

"Jones' presence is definitely missed," Alemais said. "He's
a big part of this team. Just not having him in the dugout is frustrating to us
because he definitely knows a lot about the game and coaching 21 years. Having
Gautreau, we feel confident in him. He was a great player so we feel he can come
in here and coach the game and we will just go out there and try to give him
our best. He wants us to just play out there 110 percent."

And though it's a tough match-up for the struggling Green
Wave, Alemais is hoping a win against the Owls can turn the season in the right
direction.

"I'm not done. I still believe in my team. We still have a
season to go and I think we're still going to stay positive and go out there
and get some wins," Alemais said.